So, I started this project knowing I was going to have a big cross country move coming up and that I would probably not be able to draw or paint while all that was going on and I was SO right. I am also SO glad I did not let that stop me from starting. Technically I COULD have done it on the road, but with being pregnant, travelling with a two-year old, driving over 15 hours (we did stop overnight), getting sick, and acclimating to a new town, it just wasn't in the cards for me :) And you know what, I am perfectly OK with that because I didn't quit. I just picked it back up as soon as I had a space to paint and my art supplies unpacked. Starting again wasn't easy, which is kind of the point of this whole thing, to make something a habit so it becomes easier and it doesn't feel overwhelming staring at a blank page waiting for the magic to happen.

For my first sketch this week I went with what I had in the fridge, which was cantaloupe, already cut up and ready to eat. The color was hard to get and I honestly didn't think I had it at first, but in seeing the way it dried it was actually pretty close. My two favorite things were the way the green bled into the orange perfectly (that part of the fruit was meant to be painted in watercolor) and painting the skin. Such a weird color combo there.

My next subject was an apple. I don't know what it is about apples, but they are always fun to sketch/ paint. I used strictly watercolors for this one and decided to do a cross-section view as well, which is something I don't always do because I really hate wasting food and won't cut into my subject unless I plan on eating it or using it that day. I was so happy with how this turned out that I decided to incorporate it into a product I designed for my shop.

My last subject of the week was garlic. I thought this was going to be really boring to draw at first because it doesn't really involve mixing paint colors, so to avoid that I decided to try something I haven't done for this project yet and that was to use my colored pencils in their dry form. That is one of the reason I love these colored pencils, they work really well for both dry and wet applications. Anyhow, I also decided to add a lot of detail using my pen, which is something I used to do a LOT when drawing and again, haven't really incorporated much into this sketchbook yet. I must say that this garlic was REALLY fun to draw, despite it's lack of color!

OVERALL THOUGHTSI am still frustrated with the paper, simply because it isn't really meant for watercolors and doesn't allow for some of the blending/ bleeding techniques I want to try, but instead of dwelling on it, I am going to put together a list of things I CAN work on. I am going to try choosing one thing a week to really focus on trying to improve upon. Hopefully, this will deter my attention from the paper issue. And besides, I have some other watercolor projects in the works where I can practice my blending and such. I am setting a goal of four drawings for next week and am going to be focusing on quick, loose illustrations.

Welcome to my blog. My name is Danielle. I live in Fargo, ND with my husband, sweet 2 yr old son, and smiley baby girl. I love food, painting, scrapbooking, graphic design, and nature. I love exploring + playing with how these things overlap and are connected to each other + my daily life.